Cactus Recipes

Yes, there is a lot of edible nopal cactus in the grass.This is the time and the season to cut the grasses, opening the cactus plants up to the warmth of the sun and stimulating the springtime growth, just in time for Cinco de Mayo sales that will start in a month.We can see the older more mature nopal plants much further down the hill reach above the grasses, and largely inhibit nearby grass growth once they have a good size to them. This is through an action called 'allelopathy' whereby the cactus exude substances through their roots that inhibit germination or growth of many other plants nearby, excluding them from the cactus patch.

This is why we call these 'Artisan-Grown' edible nopal cactus pads.Just before we start the larger commercial harvests we cut the grasses growing around the plants over the winter. The grasses from the rows are cut and laid in among the cactus plants in order to shade the soil. The grasses from the pathways are also cut and placed gently around the cactus.This has several benefits"1. Removal of the grasses will open the plants to the warming affects of the sun. This will stimulate the summer growth and formation of new cladodes (cactus pads, edible cactus leaves, nopales).2. The cut grasses will help shade the soil, reducing temperature spikes and helping keep the cactus roots cool and conserving moisture. If the roots don't cook, the plant can take more sunshine and heat and grow faster.3. As the year goes on the leaves and the straw from the grass stems will slowly decompose into the soil, adding to the biosphere of the soil zone.

Cutting by hand is more challenging. A mechanical string trimmer is faster, but the grasses are chopped up and fly everywhere, including damaging the growing cactus.

If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right.And this cactus is worth growing for our customers.And I will grow it right, and leave this soil richer and deeper than when I got here.

Yes, there are hundreds of cactus plants in these images... mostly hidden by the tall winter grass that we use as a living mulch.The grass is almost three feet tall now.It shields the soft soil from the pounding rain.It holds the soil together and open....it sucks up excess moisture....after it seeds we cut it, and it forms a protective mulch over the soil, shading it from the sun and eventually rotting into the soil to add to the high humus levels that keep the biological engine of the soil steaming along.